Discovery of Soft X-Ray Pulsations from PSR J1231-1411 using NICER

We report the discovery of soft X-ray pulsations from the nearby millisecond pulsar PSR J1231−1411 using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). The pulsed emission is characterized by a broad and asymmetric main pulse and a much fainter secondary interpulse, with a total pulsed coun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2019-06, Vol.878 (1), p.L22
Main Authors: Ray, Paul S., Guillot, Sebastien, Ransom, Scott M., Kerr, Matthew, Bogdanov, Slavko, Harding, Alice K., Wolff, Michael T., Malacaria, Christian, Gendreau, Keith C., Arzoumanian, Zaven, Markwardt, Craig, Soong, Yang, Doty, John P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
gamma rays: general
Millisecond pulsars
Neutron flux
Neutron stars
Neutrons
Physics
pulsars: individual (PSR J1231-1411)
Soft x rays
stars: neutron
Thermal emission
X-rays: general
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Summary:We report the discovery of soft X-ray pulsations from the nearby millisecond pulsar PSR J1231−1411 using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). The pulsed emission is characterized by a broad and asymmetric main pulse and a much fainter secondary interpulse, with a total pulsed count rate of 0.055 c s−1 in the 0.35-1.5 keV band. We analyzed Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data to update the pulse timing model covering 10 yr of data and used that model to coherently combine NICER data over a year of observations. Spectral modeling suggests that the flux is dominated by thermal emission from a hot spot (or spots) on the neutron star surface. The phase relationship between the X-ray pulse and the radio and γ rays provides insight into the geometry of the system.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/ab2539